He said: "I decided to keep Schmeichel and Joe Hart in the squad because I didn't like the idea of taking either of them out.

"I spoke with Isaksson before the game and told him there was nothing personal. I said, 'I'm not saying that Schmeichel is better than you are'. But the situation at this moment is that we have three excellent goalkeepers and you can't switch keepers like you do other players. Goalkeepers need confidence, but the season is long and things change.

"I can see he [Kasper] has problems in the air but I can also see he gets away with it."